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Follow Me, Boys!

Follow Me, Boys! (1966)

December. 01,1966
|
7.1
| Drama Family

Lem Siddons is part of a traveling band who has a dream of becoming a lawyer. Deciding to settle down, he finds a job as a stockboy in the general store of a small town. Trying to fit in, he volunteers to become scoutmaster of the newly formed Troop 1. Becoming more and more involved with the scout troop, he finds his plans to become a lawyer being put on the back burner, until he realizes that his life has been fulfilled helping the youth of the small town.

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Reviews

Matrixston
1966/12/01

Wow! Such a good movie.

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Evengyny
1966/12/02

Thanks for the memories!

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Micitype
1966/12/03

Pretty Good

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JinRoz
1966/12/04

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

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Python Hyena
1966/12/05

Follow Me, Boys! (1966): Dir: Norman Tokar / Cast: Fred MacMurray, Vera Miles, Lillian Gish, Kurt Russell, Elliot Reid: Routine family comedy about leadership and inspiration as a lawyer played by Fred MacMurray quits his practice and settles into a small town where he eventually leads a scout troop. Simple plot is charming yet overdone with too many subplots. One involving a war game is perhaps too disturbing for its target audience. Director Norman Tokar wraps it up within a message regarding one life affecting so many but the material is at the mercy of its lead. MacMurray is excellent as a guy who is thrust into a lifestyle outside his comfort zone and he pretty much carries the film. Vera Miles as his wife is pretty standard issue. She provides reason and support but little else. Lillian Gish plays a victim of gossip. She is a reminder that she was part of the beginning of feature film but regardless of that, she is still cardboard here. A young Kurt Russell plays a boy on the wrong side of the track but even this is recycled. Are we to be surprised when the troubled Russell turns out to be misunderstood? Elliot Reid appears long enough to lose Miles to MacMurray and then hopefully he leaves the set in search of a better film. Message of legacy holds a lasting impression while the screenwriter leaves an impression that perhaps he is in the wrong business. Score: 4 ½ / 10

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tthompson-1
1966/12/06

For it's day and age (and our age as well) this is a truly fine film.It's full of the good things many of us remember with an interesting story line and well done acting. This is a movie that I can watch every few months when I want to see a movie about a simpler time and feel great by the end.Fred MacMurray has been in many very good movies but this one, and "The Nutty Professor", could be his best. His personality seems to fit the part of Lam Siddons perfectly.I'm certainly glad this has been released on DVD so we can enjoy the movie like it was originally.I love the characters and the values the movie portrays. I put this in my small group of classics that deserve 10's.The Generic CriticP.S. I just thought someone should have punched "Ralph" in the nose.

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rocksmeller
1966/12/07

I saw this film when it came out. Did not realize that McKinley Kantor (was he any relation to Eddie?) wrote the book. The film was my late uncle Bill, exactly! Fred MacMurrany reminds me so much of my uncle. I was in his troop. We had a wonderful troop and this was a superb and inspiring movie! The film drew a large crowd at our local theater. Walt Disney may have shown it on his Sunday night television show a time or two but I don't recall the film being shown ever again, whether on the screen or on t.v. A shame. The kids today could learn a thing or two from it. May have been a little corny, even at the time, but had good values and a good moral. We certainly need this type of film today. Somewhat similar to "The Music Man" but not as comical.

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smenapache
1966/12/08

I as well have been waiting years for this movie to come out. My father took us to see it as children several years ago (no doubt a re-lease at the time since I am only 36 now.. much younger then Kurt Russell) I faintly remembered bits and pieces of it, and every scene I remembered took place in the first 80 minutes... the last "Stretched Out" 40 minutes was completely forgettable and after watching it again for the first time tonight in probably 32 years I can see why I forgot that part entirely. Maybe in the theaters it had all the children put to sleep. Either with Court Hearings, Legal Jargin or simpling getting older and not knowing how to end it. The first 80 minutes of the film is good enough to compete with ANY Live Action Disney film of the time, from "That Darn Cat" to "The Apple Dumpling Gang", it's wholesome and sweet and reminds you of everything that was once good about your life and that time period.. then out of nowhere the writers decide to "Advance" time for some reason and they take FORTY minutes to show how some of these great characters get old, retire or DIE. What could've been done in 5 minutes completely takes all the air out of the movie.. Kurt Russel's final scene takes place at around 80 minutes into it, and after that it's like trying to know new kids and a new troop and so on and so on. Granted, as an EagleScout myself, that's what a BoyScout Master goes through in their lives... one troop after another, with new faces, but for storytelling purposes and an audience getting to know the characters, this is a shot to the gut, like someone switched the DVD's on you and you're watching an entirely new film.Like I said, for the first 80 minutes of this, it was enough to be called a Classic with the Likes of "Swiss Family Robinson" and the "Love Bug" and they could've EASILLY wrapped up the "later years" in a 5-minute segment to leave you with a smile on your face instead of confusion or disappointment in thinking "well that was.... okay I guess." It could've been Perfect... It could've been a classic.

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